Matt Waldron, SP, SD
Waldron allowed 1 ER in 7 IP against the Phillies on Wednesday, allowing 5 hits and 2 BB's, while striking out 6. That makes 8 straight starts for Waldron in which he has allowed 2 ER's or fewer, and he has lasted at least 6 innings in each of his last 5 starts. He owns a strong 47:12 K:BB across 49.1 IP during the 8 start stretch, and while his 3.72 xFIP during that time is not extraordinary, he has excelled by limiting hard contact. For the season, the league has a mere 32.0% HardHit% against the knuckleballer. (Interesting stat: According to Statcast, Waldron has thrown his knuckleball 38.1% of the time this year, and he is the only "pitcher" to have thrown any knucklers this season. The only other knuckleballs thrown this season were two by Yankees catcher Jose Trevino.) It's hard to say if Waldron can keep this up in the long run, as he doesn't get a ton of swings and misses (8.7% SwStr%) and he has been relying heavily on weak contact, but for now at least, he appears to be a viable fantasy option.
Jackson Merrill, OF, SD
Merrill went 2-3 with a HR against the Phillies on Wednesday as he continues to display what appears to be a newly found power stroke. After hitting just 3 HR's in his first 67 games this season, Merrill has now hit 5 bombs in his last 7 games. He has hit for average all season thanks to a strong contact rate, so any sort of consistent power production could really turn Merrill into a valuable fantasy outfielder. He has been hitting the ball hard enough throughout the season, it's just a question of getting the ball in the air and pulling it more consistently. Merrill certainly needs to be started right now as he has the potential to be a top-20 OF.
Hunter Brown, SP, HOU
Brown recorded another quality start against the White Sox on Wednesday, allowing 1 ER on 7 and 0 BB's in 6 IP, while striking out 6. His ERA for the season still sits at an unimpressive 4.72, but over his last 5 starts, he has actually been spectacular with a 1.45 ERA and 38:5 K:BB across 31 IP. For the season, Brown's 9.93 K/9 is quite good and his 3.58 xFIP is far better than his ERA. He was dropped in most leagues due to his horrendous start to the season, but he should be considered an option at this point.
Tanner Bibee, SP, CLE
Bibee was exceptional against the Mariners on Wednesday, striking out 12 in 6 shutout innings, while allowing just 3 hits and a BB. The 12 K's were a season high for Bibee, surpassing the 11 K's he recorded in his last start. He seems to have reached a different level recently; over his last 6 starts, he has posted a 2.78 ERA and an otherworldly 51:6 K:BB across 35.2 IP. Bibee may have been a bit lucky to finish with a 2.98 ERA last year, as it came with a 4.22 xFIP, but this season, his xFIP is down to 3.18 and he should be started with full confidence.
Josh Naylor, 1B, CLE
Naylor came through again against the Mariners on Wednesday, going 3-4 with 2 HR's and 4 RBI, and is now up to 19 HR's and 54 RBI for the season. He already has more HR's than he had all of last season and is just one shy of his career high. It's been sort of a backward season for Naylor, who last year hit for a strong BA with medium power, and this year has put up a weak BA but has hit for a lot of power. The good news is that the power increase seems to be real, as his HardHit% has jumped about 5% to 45.6% and his EV is up by about 2 mph. Meanwhile the drop in BA would appear to be a product of bad luck, as he's still making contact at an excellent rate, yet his BABIP has fallen to .217 (career .284) despite the harder contact. Naylor's xBA was at .275 entering Wednesday, and if he continues to regress towards that number in addition to maintaining his current power performance, he can easily be a top-5 fantasy 1B.
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